It’s Friday, I’m in Love: with Deborah Ballinger Illustrations

Do you ever see something and it makes you want to take a little leap of joy? Well that’s what happened when I first encountered Deborah Ballinger Illustrations. I can’t actually remember the first time I saw them. Perhaps at the Fairy Tale Fair or Made 2012. I just know I’ve always loved her style. I’m a big fan of illustrations that keep their hand-made aesthetic. (I think it’s a backlash to my days creating shiny Vector based graphics.) Especially illustrators who use their original pencil drawings, some of whom I’ve featured in my Friday Love column before such as Katie Rodgers and Jenny Liz Rome.

Deborah Ballinger is based in Nottingham and completed her degree at Norwich University of the Arts – the same Uni as my hubby so I know she’s going to be good 😉 Inspired by history, culture, flora, fauna and traditions, Deborah uses these themes to create beautifully dark, natural and traditional illustrations. Deborah uses the process of collage to begin breathing life into her pencil drawings which are then made into beautiful textiles, stationery and gift-ware.

Gorgeous eh! Deborah Ballinger Illustrations products can be purchased on Etsy and Not On the High Street. Follow her creative journey on her blog and keep up to date with her on her social profiles on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. She has more tattoo designs coming out in February so stayed tuned for those.